This invention relates to a turkey call and more specifically to the type of turkey call known as a box call. The box call produces sound by striking or rubbing a typically chalk-covered wooden striker, or paddle, against the sidewalls of a sound box. The sound box is held in one hand and the striker is held in the other hand and manipulated against at least one of the upper edges of the side walls. Box type turkey calls are typically manufactured of wood (but not limited to wood only) and include a sound box that takes the form of an upwardly open elongated box having arcuate edges on laterally spaced side walls joined by a bottom wall. A striker, typically wooden, covers the top of the box and is conventionally pivotally fastened to the front end of the box for lateral reciprocation against the upper edges of the side walls. The striker typically has a rounded lower surface which is conventionally coated with chalk, resin or other synthetic material, and a sound is emitted by drawing the coated rounded lower surface of the striker across the arcuate upper edges of the side walls. A box type turkey call of the type described is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 574,534 issued Jan. 5, 1897 to H. C. Gibson.
Numerous designs for box turkey calls have been provided in the prior art. These designs are exemplified by the following patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 574,534, Turkey Caller and Gobbler, issued to Gibson on Jan. 5, 1897.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,511,403, Sound Producing Device, issued to Fleener on Jun. 13, 1950.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 231,927, Game Call, issued to Shoemaker on Jun. 25, 1974.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,108, Double Deep Tone Gobbler Turkey Call, issued to Lee on Aug. 10, 1982.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,262, Game Call Having Blades of Differing Height, issued to Moss on Dec. 27, 1983.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,641, Box Type Turkey Call with Eccentrically Mounted Actuator, issued to Hearn et al. on May 12, 1987.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,753, Turkey Call with Sound Chamber, issued to Langston on Jul. 11, 1989.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,930, Box-Type Turkey Caller with Scalloped Actuator, issued to Hearn on Jun. 12, 1990.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,235, Turkey Call with Silencer, issued to Forbes et al. on Jan. 10, 1995.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,319, Box Call Apparatus and Method, issued to Battey on Jan. 16, 1996.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 393,810, Slideable Chambered Turkey Call, issued to Richardson on Apr. 28, 1998.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,036, Chambered Striker Turkey Call with Optionable Chambered Side Panels and Pivotable and Lockable Slide Action Variable Tone Selector, issued to Richardson on Nov. 3, 1998.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,119, Turkey Call and Accessories, issued to Long on Dec. 8, 1998.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 415,054, Box Call, issued to Foster et al. on Oct. 12, 1999.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 417,166, Turkey Call, issued to DeGroot on Nov. 30, 1999.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,493, Turkey Call and Accessories, issued to Long on Nov. 21, 2000.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,493, Game Call Reliably Adjustable for Different Sounds, issued to Kirby on Jan. 2, 2001.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,539, Sound Quality Box Call, issued to Kirby on Sep. 13, 2005.
A common feature in these prior art designs is a means of pivotally attaching the striker to the sound box. This attachment is typically accomplished with a fastener such as a screw that fits loosely through a hole in the front end of the striker with the screw anchored to the front end of the sound box.
It is known that different sound characteristics can be generated by using strikers of different designs and compositions. For example, the striker may be made from a variety of woods, such as cherry, maple, pine or oak. Additionally, the curvature of the bottom surface of the striker can be varied as well as the length or width, for example. The necessity to modify the sound characteristics of a turkey call by changing the combination of striker and sound box results from the experience of hunters who have found that optimum hunting results, i.e. the ability to call and attract turkeys, may require different sounds, perhaps for different turkeys on different days or in different conditions. However, the optimum combination of striker and sound box may not be known in advance, so turkey hunters may carry multiple turkey calls, sound boxes and strikers with them during a hunting trip.
None of the box turkey calls from the prior art disclose a striker that can be quickly attached and detached without removing attachment hardware such as screws, nuts, springs and washers. To change the combination of striker and sound box, the means of attachment, for example a screw or bolt, must be unscrewed from the sound box, the striker removed, a different striker or sound box selected, and the screw or bolt reinserted in the hole in the selected striker and reattached to the sound box.
While these designs provide for adequate functionality in a turkey box call given a single selection of striker, none of these designs provides for a quick changeable striker that can be detached and attached to the sound box without removing hardware or other means of attachment and that would facilitate quickly changing the operating characteristics of the turkey call by utilizing different selected strikers. It can be appreciated that when a hunter is in the field, and often in low light conditions, there is a need for a quick and efficient means of changing strikers on a turkey call. The process of using a screwdriver or other tool to remove a fastener in order to change the striker is cumbersome and leads to the possibility of losing the fastener in low light conditions by dropping it in leaves, handling the small fastener may be made even more difficult if the outside temperatures are low and the hunter's fingers are cold, and the excessive manipulation of tools, fasteners and the box call itself may result in unwanted noise that can scare away the game birds being hunted.
As such, it may be appreciated that there is a continuing need for a new and improved box turkey call that will allow a more efficient utilization and changeability of a variety of strikers. The present invention provides a novel method of attaching the striker to the sound box portion of the call that fulfills this need. Additionally, the prior patents and commercial techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component elements arranged, configured and utilized in the method as disclosed herein.
The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objects, and advantages through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements, with the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, and by employing only readily available materials.